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Saturday, January 14, 2012

Adrian Lester talks Doctor Who

Thanks to BBC Pictures

Actor Adrian Lester (The Day After Tomorrow and BBC's Hustle) revealed in an interview with Graham Norton earlier today that the part of Doctor Who is one he is actively seeking. Listen to an excerpt from the BBC Radio 2 show in the player below.

11 comments:

You know, I think he could do a decent job at it. Hustle's a god-awful mess of a show, but he seems like a very competent actor all the same. I don't remember him being linked to the role before, the "the Doctor could be black" press stories were all about Patterson Joseph I thought? The latter, in my opinion, while a great actor would not make a good Doctor.

Tell him to get the idea out of his head....I hope we dont have the 'black Doctor' debate AGAIN. The doctor has always been different facets of the Englishman and it should stay that way.Besides a black Doctor is cynical at best...Its always about a black doctor, never is it about an japanese Indian or even Mexican Doctor! So besides a seemingly race favorable BBC, the choice of a black doctor would always seems like it was railroaded. Thats not Adrians fault just because he is interested, but its what makes him a bad choice...I hope the BBC know if they ever do change the race of the Doctor he can't go black first because they have been seen to try and force it in that direction far too much. Now if you made him Japanese that would knock the wind out the sails of critics. HOwever im another annoying 'im not racist' fan who says the Doctor Should always stay white. HOws about the shows give more roles to non white actors than just the token roles...Future or past, there's always a black guy...why not all black?

I'd rather see Idris Elba or Adawale Akkinuoye Agbaje in the role, someone who would genuinely bring a brand new dynamic and sense of uniqueness to the role and their incarnation. Lester is just too much of a 'safe' choice as far as our first ethnic incarnation of The Doctor, were it to come to pass.

Personally, my top choices for the role after Matt Smith eventually steps down are still Matt King (best known for Peep Show and Spirited), Alexander Siddig (still best known for Star Trek Deep Space 9, and films like Kingdom of Heaven, and Syriana), Hugh Laurie (House, Blackadder etc), Tim Roth (hasn't been seen much since his US show Lie to Me was cancelled) or the afore mentioned Idris Elba.

Though let's face it, they'll probably cast another unknown or up and commer, rather than an already established 'name'. And if he is as good as their recent picks have been, then who am I to argue.

Nothing I have seen from the three nuWho actors (or the limited amount of older Doctor Who I've seen) has suggested that the character is at all bound to a particular race, gender, or sexual orientation. "The lonely god" is a very melodramatic description, but kind of apt; he seems to exist in a space that has moved beyond those categories. I would not be troubled by this casting choice unless Adrian Lester is a bad actor.

This is not a post to provoke an argument and certainly not racial, but the character is iconic and has always been known as a caucasian male, to change this could be asking too much of the audience. It would be like casting a black Shelock Holmes, or James Bond. It's just wrong.As I said, this is not a racial issue and my opinion is no different to that of casting a female in the role and I am no more racist than I am sexist.Besides, personally I think Adrian Lester is a dreadful actor anyway!

Very surprised about the amount of negativity towards having a black doctor on here. All this stuff about Britishness or that he should be a white caucasian is rubbish. Previously the doctor was always posh, and then we had the 9th doctor. I would welcome a black / Indian / Asian / Latino doctor any day of the week.

I hope they audition a variety of actors, and chose the next doctor for the right reasons. If the best person for the job is black, then fine. If the best actor to audition is white again then fine. If they're a woman not a man, then fine. If they're any other race or whatever then fine. Let's choose the best good actor or actress, rather than choosing a skin colour or gender.

The idea that The Doctor can change his age, hair color, hair thickness, voice, accent, height, weight, but not skin tone... is ridiculous. Actually, he's changed his skin tone every time he's regenerated. Not from "white" to "black," sure, but if you think a little extra melanin in his skin is a stretch, you are simply racist or at least ignorant of the fact that "race" is an entirely social construct with no real meaning.